From Seed To Table (FStT):
Cape Town - South Africa
Abalimi Introducing Tunnels

Bulawayo - Zimbabwe | Ndola - Zambia | Cape Town - South Africa.

Abalimi Introducing Tunnels

The RUAF implementing partner in Cape Town, Abalimi, is introducing tunnels as a strategy to deal with unfavourable weather that sometimes threaten the quality and quantity of produce. Abalimi runs an organic vegetable box scheme where they supply a range of vegetables grown by the poor farmers in the townships to the rich residents in the suburbs.
Abalimi’s Harvest of Hope (HoH) project was selected to run as part of the RUAF global from seed to table (FStT) project. The FStT project is helping introduce farmers to the market through innovating their technical and organizational capacities. Abalimi had already introduced farmers to the market. They were also helping farmers with production planning, input procurement, and extension support. The project currently produces between 90 and 120 boxes a week. Profitability will only be achieved with an output of 380 vegetable boxes a week.

There are however challenges in maintaining a constant supply across seasons. In winter Cape Town is very cold, windy, and wet. In summer sometimes it becomes too hot and dry. The introduction of tunnels is expected to regulate the huge seasonal variations and create optimum conditions for vegetable growth so that regular supplies can be maintained. Growing vegetables in tunnels will also help manage the quality of vegetables by addressing the extreme and unfavourable conditions for plant growth. Farmers will now be trained through urban producer field schools (UPFS) so that they quickly learn how to grow and maintain crops under tunnels.

RUAF raises concern over proposed loss of Cape Town loss of horticulture land

The RUAF Foundation has raised concern at plans in Cape Town to convert urban agriculture land to residential. There are plans to convert more than 500 hectares of horticulture land to residential to in order to provide housing to Cape Town residents. Whilst housing is an important use, it is the choice of horticulture land that is an issue. Professionals in council as well as urban agriculture groups think there is sufficient alternative residential land elsewhere.

RUAF joined the growing list of objectors to the project that will destroy Cape Town’s capacity to ensure its own food security. The University of Cape Town, the Sustainability Institute, and various city directorates have all raised concern over the proposal. According to the situation analysis conducted by urban agriculture stakeholders that participated in the RUAF Cities Farming for the Future Programme, the Phillipi are produces approximately 60 percent of all vegetables grown in Cape Town. Converting such land to residential will mean serious threat to local food security.

‘We write to raise concern over the proposal to convert a sizable chunk of the phillipi Hrticultural Area to residential. Specifically we refer to the Rapicorp application for 472ha of the PHA land for conversion to residential,’ the RUAF letter said.
The letter went on to highlight that the land ‘has a strategic potential for the sustainable development of Cape Town and more specifically for the food security, income and well being of the inhabitants of the Philippi area. The zone has high potential for the Government policy regarding small emerging farmers.’

Philippi area has a very high unemployment rate. Research by Dr. Jane Battersby-Lennard’s team from the Programme in Urban Food Security (PUFS) of Cape Town University revealed that 70 percent of households in the Philippi area are severely food insecure, including many female-headed households. With active Government support the Phillipi Farmlands can be resuscitated to provide thousands of permanent land-based jobs for poor households in Philippi area in micro- and small scale horticulture (that should be organic in order not to affect the surface and ground water resources) earning Incomes between R3000-R6000/m per 1000m2 of land can be generated in the area(as shown by the experience of micro farmers associated with Abalimi). Many poor urban households (including female headed households and unemployed youth) from Philippi could be given the opportunity to expand their horticulture activities from home and community gardens into small scale horticulture in HPA, as had been considered as part of the strategic planning on urban agriculture that was undertaken here last year in cooperation between Various Cape Town departments, local NGO’s , community groups with support of RUAF Foundation.

The City of Cape Town has given a good example when it developed a progressive policy on urban agriculture some years ago to many other cities in South Africa and abroad and is regularly referred to by international publications. However, the above mentioned intentions regarding allowing separation of large parts of the PHA for housing would indicate that the issue of food security and urban agriculture is still not high on the policy agenda of the City and that competing demands for land are given priority. The latter would be the more regrettable since urban food security is becoming one of the key urban challenges of the near future and more and more countries challenge their city authorities to take a much more active role and responsibility in this respect.
The other reason for RUAF’s objection is that, maintaining green open spaces within the built environment and promoting urban agriculture is seen as one of the most effective measures to adapt to the effects of climate change and to build more resilient cities.

The importance of a productive and green PHA goes beyond just producing large amounts of vegetables for the city but also can contribute directly to poverty alleviation and food security in Philippi area as well as act as an important safety net in case of natural disasters, an important factor in storage and infiltration of excess storm water (replenishing the aquifer beneath it), play a role in reducing CO2 emissions, while in HPA production may be combined with other urban functions (e.g. biodiversity and landscape management park, recreational functions). International organisations like UN Habitat, UN Food and Agriculture Organisation and World Bank are giving important attention to the above mentioned aspects nowadays and it would be a pity if Cape Town moved into the opposite direction.

In the letter, RUAF Foundation suggests that Cape Town reconsiders its intentions regarding PHA and makes such part of the public participation process associated with the draft Spatial Development Plan/ Environmental Management Framework (District Plan) for the Cape Flats District (G) within which the PHA falls. In case it is decided to separate part of the HPA for housing development it is suggested to combine the housing development in the 472 (or even 572) hectares with a programme oriented at the development of a thriving community based urban agriculture in the remainder of the HPA in collaboration with private organisations active in Philippi area in themes of income generation and food security. Such a programme could partly be financed by making it part of the investment scheme related to the housing development (“red” financing “green”). Moreover, it could be suggested for co-financing to CORDAID as part of its support to the integrated development of Philippi.

The letter was submitted to the offices of the Mayor of Cape Town, the Premier of Western Cape, and circulated to various other stakeholders.